Precatory-pea
General poisoning notes:
Precatory-pea (Abrus
precatorius) seeds contain a chemical called abrin, which is highly toxic.
A single well-masticated seed can kill an adult human (Kingsbury 1964).
In
Canada the seeds of this plant are imported into the country on necklaces and
perhaps on other decorative items. These attractive seeds are shiny, red, and
black and about 5-8 mm long (Hoy and Catling 1981).
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Abrus precatorius L.
Vernacular
name(s): precatory-pea
Scientific family
name: Leguminosae
Vernacular family
name: pea.
Geographic Information
Plant or plant
parts used in or around the home.
Toxic parts:
Seeds.
Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:
Abrin is a lectin
of Abrus precatorius and is a ribosome-inactivating protein. This
chemical is regarded as one of the most deadly plant toxins known.
LD50:
0.56 micro gm/kg in mice (Stirpe and Barbieri 1986). Kingsbury (1964) states
that a toxicity dose is about 0.00015% of a human subject's weight. A single
well-masticated seed can kill an adult. Abrin causes large-scale disruption in
lymphoid tissues, with apoptotic cell death. Apoptotic bodies have increased in
the small intestine of experimental rats (Griffiths et al. 1987).
Toxic plant chemicals:
Abrin.
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an animal
is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993) contained
no detailed explanation.
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